03-19-2007
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Secretary of Defense
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Member Since: Nov 2006
Location: Closer to the mountaintop.
Posts: 3,073
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Pass It On!
Below you will find the unedited letter that I recieved from our Representative Tom Udall of New Mexico who represents our district.
The reason I am posting this letter is that I'd like to see his letter forwarded to all the other Representatives of the House for considering the views and pending legislation of Representative Tom Udall in regards to adequate and honorable trearment of our wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, giving our troops what they actually need in both nations and in the hopes of bringing an end to this travesty that the Bush Administration initiated when he invaded Iraq- a policy that is increasingly being regarded as a dismal failure by almost everyone, with the exception of Bush&Co and those that, unforgivably, still continue to believe in the Administration's policies in regards to Iraq.
So, please, pass this letter on to your own Representatives in the House. We aren't the ones making the ultimate decisions but we can raise our voices and make damn sure we are being heard.
Thank you for your support in this endeavor and...
PASS IT ON!!!
Here's Tom Udall's message:
Quote:
March 19, 2007
Dear Friend:
Today we recognize the fourth anniversary of the
start of the Iraq War.
Four years ago, the catch phrase was shock and
awe, a reference to the
technologically advanced military might being
unleashed. Today, a
more apt catch phrase would be dismay and
disillusion. Our dismay is
for the 3,200 young Americans that we remember on
this solemn
anniversary, who lost their lives in a distant
land; for the more than
24,000 young Americans wounded, some of whom
returned to
inadequate care in substandard military and
veterans' facilities, despite
the great personal sacrifices they made for their
country; and for our
nation, which has seen its reputation erode from
worldwide support
following 9/11 to riotous opposition in the
streets on just about any
international stop the President makes.
Our disillusion is for the quagmire we now find
ourselves in. Promised
that we'd be greeted as liberators only to be
viewed as an occupying
force, we now must ask, "how do we remove
ourselves without
destroying the prospects of democracy in Iraq and
stability throughout
the Middle East."
Although I opposed authorizing the President's
use of force in Iraq from
the beginning, with the wounds of the 9/11
terrorist attacks still tender,
much of America backed the President with faith
and good intent. Faith
that the President was going to war only as a
last resort, having
exhausted all diplomatic options, and with the
intention of removing a
threat not only to the stability of the Middle
East, but to us here at home
as well.
Four years later, we find we have removed a
dictator with a nonexistent
cache of weapons of mass destruction. And with
no plan to keep the
peace in Iraq, we helped create a civil war that
has the men and women
of our armed services, already deployed on
extended tours beyond the
point of exhaustion, caught in the crossfire.
Congress is the people's body of government, the
institution our
founding fathers established to reflect the will
of the people. As such, it
is imperative that Congress respond to the will
of the people. Every
recent survey of American public opinion shows by
clear majorities that
our citizens overwhelmingly disapprove of the
President's handling of
Iraq, and more Americans believe Congress, and
not the President,
should be primarily responsible for setting
policy in Iraq.
Last week, in the House Appropriations Committee,
I supported passage
of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health and
Iraq Accountability
Act. This supplemental appropriations bill
provides more funding for
our troops - for equipment, training and support
services - than the
President's request. It offers a new direction
that promises to finally bring
closure to our open-ended commitment in Iraq,
with provisions
culminating in the redeployment of our U.S.
troops from Iraq. It ensures
troop deployments adhere to the Department of
Defense's own standards
for readiness, including the length of time that
troops can be deployed in
Iraq and the length of time they are entitled to
remain at home, while
holding the Iraqi government accountable and
making sure it meets the
benchmark standards previously outlined by the
President. And this bill
re-focuses our attention on those responsible for
the attacks of 9/11, the
resurgent al Qaeda and Taliban, both of which
have been gaining
strength recently in Afghanistan while our troops
have been bogged
down between warring factions in Iraq.
Finally, for our returning troops, this bill
promises to give them the
health care that they need, with the honor they
deserve for honoring us
with their service. I hope my colleagues will
join me this week in
supporting passage of this legislation when we
consider it on the House
floor.
Very Truly Yours,
Tom Udall
Member of Congress
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Thank you,
Gem
__________________
There is no political solution to our troubled evolution.
"Reality, the left-wing liberal conspiracy.  "
Credited to Angry American.
Last edited by MattLarson; 03-20-2007 at 11:03 AM.
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